Everything in Texas
by dustytiger
Summary: An old friend is accused of robbery and Diana asks for Bull's help in defending him, but Bull and team are in for a surprise. A case fic with a heavy dose of Diana/Bull.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Everything in Texas  
Author: Trista Groulx aka dustytiger  
Rating: T same as the show to be safe  
Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own Bull it belongs to its network, creator, writers, actors, actresses and people who make it come to life and I am just a poor disabled person who likes to play with the characters.  
Summary: An old friend is accused of robbery and Diana asks for Bull's help in defending him, but Bull and team are in for a surprise.  
Notes: This is three parts, which I mean isn't a longfic, but it's something, right? The idea come to me a while ago, and I think it's finally ready. I hope you enjoy this. I will update daily so long as ff doesn't glitch. This is a bit of a case and a bit of Bull/Diana fic hehe enjoy!

* * *

It wasn't unusual for Jason Bull to receive a call from Diana Lindsay, what was unusual was for her to be as frantic as she was. He hadn't hesitated for a moment and took the first flight to Texas. He was surprised that she'd met him at the airport. He knew that meant that whatever this was had to be serious. He had barely gotten his bags when she wrapped her arms around him pulling him into a deep hug, hiding her face in the crook of his arm, trying not to cry.

"Jason," she whispered.

"Diana, what's wrong?" he asked.

"My friend Tommy called me, he was arrested for robbery. He didn't do this."

"How do you know this kid?"

"I used to babysit him, he was such a sweet little boy," she explained. "His mama was a mess, his daddy was a policeman, and was killed on the job when he was three. Jason I know he didn't do this, but I can't represent this, I'm too close to him. I want him to have a chance at a fair trial, so I called you."

"All right I'll meet with him."

"Jason," she sighed softly, wanting more reassurance than that.

"I can't promise you I'll take the case until I meet him Diana." He ran his hand along her cheek softly to try to reassure her.

"I know," she sighed taking her things. "Can we go to lock up now?"

"Yes, of course," he assured her following her. "What aren't you telling me?"

"It's my fault everyone thinks he's guilty. Everyone thinks he stole from my dad."

"He stole from a judge?" he asked as they got to the car.

"No, he took a ring from me that was at my daddy's." she explained, handing him the keys. "He'd go over for dinner on Sundays and I told him to go to my room and take it. He had gotten into college and his mama drank away some of the money he needed for tuition. I was busy on an out of town case so I told him to pawn my ring and I'd pick up when I got home. I forgot to that Leon would still go into the shop, as soon as he saw the ring called up my daddy and said he had a stolen ring in his shop. I explained what happened, but Daddy never believed me, Tommy never got charged but everyone 'round here knows the story."

"Okay, now I know what we'll be up against. Is there anything else?"

"Thank you for coming, no that's it Jason. Everyone knows his Mama's a drunk but that doesn't make him a bad kid either."

He took her hand, and squeezed it, trying to assure her that somehow it would be all right. He wanted it to be all right, but if she was as close to this kid as she seemed to be she could be blind to any faults he might have. Maybe he had done what he stood accused of, and he couldn't ask his team to help him no matter how much he wanted to stop Diana from hurting.

They entered the small county jail, as much as he wanted to be reassure he got the impression she didn't want everyone to know about them yet,so he didn't hold her hand as they walked inside. He wasn't surprised that all of the deputies knew her and greeted her kindly. They seemed more reserved about him. He was after all some guy from up north, just because Diana Lindsay trusted him didn't mean they had to.

When he got to the holding cell he could see that the young man was scared. Diana had obviously called in a few favours since he was alone in the small cell, not sharing it with the usual suspects, the town drunk and random ruffian who always managed to find his way to a jail cell when a scared kid would. Tommy was sitting on the cold bench and looked up at him quizzically, knowing that the well dressed man was there because he'd been arrested, but he had clearly been expecting Diana or someone else from her law firm.s

"Diana sent you?" he asked.

Bull nodded. "She did," he replied.

"This is how she helps me? Some northern lawyer."

"I'm not a lawyer, I'm jury consultant."

"Great. I'm screwed."

"You're only screwed if I think you're guilty. I have a lawyer who works for me, he's pretty good."

"So, wait Diana's not going to be my lawyer?" he asked.

Bull shook his head. "That would be a conflict of interest, that's why she called me. Now, why don't you tell me what happened?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "This is what happens here when you call for help."

"You called in the robbery, and you were arrested?"

He nodded. "Everyone knows Judge Lindsay, and no one believes I didn't steal from him. So when they found me in a place that had been broken into and a bunch of money was missing, of course they all thought it was time Tommy McNamara finally got his just deserts."

"Okay, I'll call get my team here. You'll meet your lawyer at arraignment tomorrow."

"You're gonna help me?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

"Why were you in there?"

He shrugged. "I saw that something was wrong, I went to go see if Jay and everyone was all right."

"You know them?"

"I used to wok there, I know everyone."

"Why'd you leave?"

"Something better came along."

"All right. What size are you?"

"Size?"

"My stylist needs to bring you something to wear tomorrow, but he can't do that if he doesn't know what size you are. You can't show up in court in jeans and a hoodie Tommy. This is all part of what I do."

"Oh, um sure," he muttered then gave him the information.

"You're too overwhelmed for all the details right now. We can't get you out tonight, but in the morning you'll be out on bond."

"Can I see Diana, please?"

"Hi," Diana greeted him appearing from where she had been, holding back, knowing she wasn't supposed to talk to him, but wanting to know what Bull was going to do. "Tommy, I am so sorry."

"This ain't on you Diana, but, um- thank you," he whispered.

"Don't thank me yet."

"Miss Diana, you're not his lawyer," one of the deputies told her softly.

"I know." She nodded. "I've got to go, but I promise you're in good hands."

He nodded uncertainly and watched as she left. Bull watched her too, he had never seen her like that before. He knew this kid meant a lot to her and was going to do right for him. He talked to Tommy for a little while longer, while the deputy looked on.

"Doctor Bull, ya'll done here?" the deputy asked.

"Yes, I think so, are you good, here?"

"I guess," Tommy replied.

Bull nodded. "See you in the morning, Tommy."

He shook Tommy's hand and went out into the lobby area to find Diana. He was a little surprised she wasn't there, but decided she must have gone outside. He went out into the parking lot area and saw her standing by the car. He went over to her and hugged her, as he wrapped his arms around her as she hid her face, not wanting anyone to see her so upset.

"This is not your fault Diana," he told her, kissing the top of her head. "And we'll fix it."

"I know, Jason, I do," she whispered.

"But it still hurts. Benny and everyone else will be here in the morning we'll get him out on bond and this over with as soon as possible. What are the chances your father is going to be the judge on this one?"

"Jason, don't be silly, Daddy can't try this case. He might not think of Tommy like a son but he knows he's too close to this case as well."

"I just wanted to know if I should give Benny and Marissa a heads up."

"No need let's go home."

He nodded he put his hand on the small of her back as they went to her car. She was exhausted but wasn't sure how much sleep she'd get. She knew how good Bull and his team were, but she also knew that anything could happen in a Texas courtroom. The police weren't even looking for anyone else, they were sure they'd found their man, so how could they prove that he was innocent?

End Part 1

Notes: The rest of team will show up in the next one, and you'll see where I take this little fic. I hope you enjoyed this so far, let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Everything in Texas  
Author: Trista Groulx aka dustytiger  
Rating: T same as the show to be safe  
Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own Bull it belongs to its network, creator, writers, actors, actresses and people who make it come to life and I am just a poor disabled person who likes to play with the characters.  
Summary: An old friend is accused of robbery and Diana asks for Bull's help in defending him, but Bull and team are in for a surprise.  
Notes: So far so good, I'm glad people seem to like this. Also it would seem in my editing process I have been able to add another part! So yay! Four part fic!

* * *

The next morning Diana was at the airport with one of her colleagues, this time waiting for the rest of Bull's team. She had gotten them all breakfast and coffee to start the morning. When they arrived she introduce them all as she gave them each their respective cups and her co-worker gave them each a brown take out bag with their breakfasts insides.

"Thank you," Marissa said, giving her a hug after taking a sip of the coffee, which was perfect, clearly Bull had helped with that.

"Thank you for coming out, I figured you wouldn't get much of a chance to get a bite to eat."

"Oh this is perfect," Cable told her already eating.

"You and Marisa are gonna come with me to the office, and the boys are gonna go with Kevin to the courthouse to meet Tommy. Danny you can go with whoever you want."

"I assume that the police station and courthouse are close by," Danny said.

"Yes Ma'am they are," said Kevin. "But 'round these parts we call it the Sheriff's station."

"Right, then I'll go with the guys. Chunk seriously how much of this is yours?"

"I only packed five bags," Chunk protested. "I need these two right away."

"How about we get everything loaded up and get going?" suggested Diana.

Everyone began to lead the gear into the cars, most of it needed to go to law office with Cable and Marissa so they could set up as quickly as possible. When they arrived at the law office a couple of intern came out and helped them bring everything inside.

"We're setting you up in our large conference room," Diana explained.

"That sounds great, thank you, oh and thank you," she said, surprised by how many people were getting their stuff and bringing it inside.

"The small conference room is over here and it's our unofficial lunch room," Diana explained as they walked by. "While ya'll are here make yourself at home. My office is right over here, and my assistant should be here soon if you need something and can't find me just ask her.

"All right, I'm sure once we're set up we'll be fine," Marissa assured her as Cable told people where to put the various boxes.

"This might be strange, but lunch is at one, and everyone that's in the office chips in and we get one of those family deals. I think today is Indian food, everyone just takes what they want, and there's usually some gossip."

"Well, that sounds nice. Thank you for everything. Cable how long is this going to take to set up?"

"I'm hoping about an hour."

"I could uh- help, Ma'am," a young man, clearly an intern, mumbled as he set down another box. "I dunno if I'm allowed to see what ya'll are doin' but I'm good with wires, and stuff, unless you got work for me Miss Lindsay."

"Marissa, if you can use the help, he's all yours," Diana replied.

"Cable?" asked Marissa.

"If he can set everything while I can run diagnostics it'll take half the time to get everything going," Cable told her.

"Find me when you're done Angelo," Diana told him leaving the conference room.

Meanwhile Bull and Benny were waiting for Tommy, Chunk had gone to drop off his clothes, and Danny was already starting to ask questions about the night of the robbery. When Bull saw Tommy he was happy to see that Chunk had once again pulled off his magic. He looked almost like a different person. He still looked nervous, but at least he looked nervous because of the situation not because he had done something wrong.

"Thomas McNamara, this is your lawyer, Benjamin Colon, Benny this Tommy," Bull introduced them.

"Hi," greeted Tommy, nervously. "So, um what happens now?"

"We're going to go in front of the judge for the first time," Benny explained. "You're going to plead not guilty, and we'll ask for remand. The judge is then going to set your bond, which Diana has agreed to put up, and once that's processed you'll be out on bail."

"Um, okay, do I owe Diana all that money?"

"Only if you skip town," Bull joked.

"I'd never do that, Sir."

"I know, and call me Bull everyone else does. Benny might like the sir thing though."

"Benny's fine," Benny assured him.

They walked into the courtroom together, and Bull's jaw dropped. That was the last person he was expecting to see on the bench. He was not looking forward to having to explain this to Benny, let alone Marissa, although he had a feeling Cable and Chunk would probably get a kick out of this turn of events.

"And what brings ya'll from the big city to my court room, Jason?" asked the judge.

"Justice, Judge Lindsay," replied Bull, adjusting his tie, glad he'd decided to wear one that morning.

"We're screwed," muttered Benny, under his breath, not loud enough for Tommy to hear, but he was sure Marissa and Cable did if everything was working.

Meanwhile Cable and Marissa were still running checks to see which of their equipment was working. While they were happy they could hear what was going on, Cable still hadn't gotten everything set up to communicate so they would have to wait to find out what this was going to mean to the case until Bull and Benny got back to the office later.

"As in Diana Lindsay's father?" Marissa asked Cable.

Cable was tapping away at the keyboard. "Yup," she replied. "Judge Clarence "Bud" Lindsay, one daughter, Diana Lindsay. How do you get Bud from Clarence?"

"Cable," she sighed. "This isn't ideal, but we can work with it. I'm sure Bull is already thinking up a strategy.

"Yeah, probably, but it still sucks. I mean we are in Texas and Bull's dating the judge's daughter, this sounds like the beginning of a really bad movie."

"You're not helping," Marissa said, shaking her head, but hiding a smile.

"Maybe not but I made you laugh. I think I just need to fix the range on ear pieces and they should be fine to work both ways, since we heard Benny loud and clear."

"All right, good."

They hadn't even officially started the process and they already felt that they were fighting an uphill battle. It wasn't that Marissa was mad about what had happened, but she thought that Bull would have warned them there was a chance they might have to face Judge Lindsay in court.

When Diana heard about what had happened with Tommy she was furious. When she was done with her own caseload she had gone right to her father's office to talk to him. She didn't even bother to greet his receptionist, who was trying to tell her that the judge was busy and couldn't be disturbed. She didn't care if he was having a meeting with the president she was not about to wait to talk to her own father.

"Daddy, Judge Ryan was supposed to hear Tommy's case," Diana growled, storming inside.

"I'm sorry Judge Lindsay," the exasperated receptionist stammered.

"It's all right Leslie, Diana is always welcome, even when she's on the warpath," the judge assured the terrified receptionist, who simply nodded and closed the door on her way out.

"On the warpath?! You ain't seen nothin' yet Daddy!" she snapped. "You made me look like a liar and an idiot today. When I asked Jason to take this case I told him he was not going to be in the court room with anyone with the last name Lindsay because we're too close to Tommy!"

"Now Diana, I know you got a soft spot for Tommy, but judge Ryan's mama still packs that boy's lunch and has to drive him to the courthouse," he explained, chuckling a little at his own joke. "He would have been hoodwinked by Jason's big city former District Attorney and all that razzle dazzle he calls science. That voodoo has no place in our court rooms, and you should be ashamed of yourself for callin' him in."

"Tommy needs his help because everyone seems to think he did this, and I know he didn't and so does Jason or he would have turned around and left."

"Diana, Tommy isn't that sweet little boy you used to babysit."

"He's a good man Daddy, and that's why you should have recused yourself. He didn't steal anything from me I told him to take that ring and I was gonna get it back before you knew it was gone."

He sighed softly. "This ain't what this is all about. He's on trial cause he was found in a store that was broken into. Just because you can't see past all that time you spent with little Tommy dun't mean I can't either, Diana. I am a good judge and he will get a fair trial in my courtroom. Judge Ryan wouldn't know how to deal with Jason like I do."

"But Daddy."

"Look, I want to hear that jury say not guilty just as much as you Princess, but your friends got a lot of work to do prove that."

She nodded, of course he would know how to calm her down, now she was going to have to explain this to Bull and the rest of the TAC team, and hope that they would understand. After a quick hug she went back to the office and to the conference room to join the team, minus Danny. They were all sitting around talking about the big development of the day, her father being on the bench when they hadn't been expecting that curve ball.

End Part 2

Notes: So that was that, the next part will be more about TAC, hope still like it! Let me know what you think :D


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Everything in Texas  
Author: Trista Groulx aka dustytiger  
Rating: T same as the show to be safe  
Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own Bull it belongs to its network, creator, writers, actors, actresses and people who make it come to life and I am just a poor disabled person who likes to play with the characters.  
Summary: An old friend is accused of robbery and Diana asks for Bull's help in defending him, but Bull and team are in for a surprise.  
Notes: Again thank you for the support on this, it's a little odd to write in such a new fandom but it's fun too. I am trying to make this a five part fic, not three like I originally had thought the chapters kept getting longer so I thought maybe I can split things up a little more smoothly. So now Bull has some questions to answer.

* * *

After Bull and Benny were done in court they had gotten Tommy's bail sorted out. They wanted to talk to him about what the plan going forward, but Tommy was exhausted so they decided to let him go home and get a good night's sleep before going back to Diana's office to meet with the rest of the team. They didn't need Tommy to discuss strategy it wasn't as if they were going to be having mock trials, and the kid didn't need a lot of trial prep, he was a likeable kid who was telling the truth about what had happened on the night he'd been arrested. Bull had just hoped to deflect the attention from himself a little while longer if Tommy was there.

"You could have told me that her father was a judge in the area." Benny told Bull as they went toward the law office.

He hadn't wanted to chastise him in front of their client, but Benny was mad that he hadn't been given a heads up. He hated surprises in the courtroom, it was one of the things he liked about working for Bull. Since Bull could read people he almost always knew what was going to happen before it actually happened and it took a lot of stress out of the job and he could focus on what he needed to do.

"I didn't think I had to," Bull explained.

"You didn't think I'd want to know that we might be seeing Diana's father in court?" Benny asked him.

"I don't want to explain this to everyone we put a pin in this for a minute?"

Benny nodded, knowing that everyone else would need to know as well. Bull soon pulled into the parking lot of an office building, and the two men walked inside. Bull had been there a few times, but didn't want to just walk over Diana's office so he hung back to be greeted by the receptionist.

"Good afternoon Doctor Bull," the receptionist greeted him. "Everyone else is in the large conference room, but Miss Diana isn't back yet."

"Thanks Ginny," Bull said.

He went toward the conference room, Benny in tow, not looking forward to this conversation. Marissa looked even more upset than Benny, while Cable seemed more amused than anything else. Chunk was sitting at one of the computers and seemed neutral about the situation. Bull knew he wouldn't get away with waiting for Danny to be done whatever she was doing to explain what was going about the judge, so he started to prepare himself for their questions, although he wanted to start working on Tommy's defence.

"How bad is this Bull?" Marissa asked him.

"I don't think it's as bad as you're all making it."

"Bull, he's Diana's father, he can't be your biggest fan."

"I'm not the one on trial and it's not Judge Lindsay we need to win over to help Tommy," Bull assured her.

"Why didn't you warn us about Judge Lindsay?" asked Benny.

"Diana told me he wouldn't be trying this one," Bull replied.

"What changed?" asked Marissa.

"Despite what you might think I don't actually read minds. You'll need to ask her, could we maybe focus on our client instead of this?"

He knew it wasn't over, but he didn't like be being the one in the hot seat. As if on cue Diana came into the room and knew she knew exactly what, or rather who they were taking about. She had been dreading telling them this. She had hoped she would be able to talk to Bull alone first, but they were all there now, and there was no point in prolonging it now. She was glad she'd gone to see her father, she was still upset he'd taken the case, she was sure that the other judge would have been just fine, but she also understood why her father did what he did and hoped they wouldn't blame her for this turn of events.

"Speak of the devil," said Bull smiling at her.

Diana shook her. "I went to talk to Daddy."

"Talk?" asked Bull.

"Well, it got a little heated, but told me he thought the other judge on the docket was too junior to deal with ya'll," she explained.

"So what we do? Is going to be an issue?" asked Marissa.

"This is a small town, and people fear what they don't know, but I think the jury will be fine once you know what you're looking for. Tommy needs you here to help him because I know that there are people who believe the rumours about him. If I'd taken this case the whole town would be buzzing even louder about how I was jumping up to defend him again when he obviously did something wrong."

"Okay, what's the whole story?" asked Benny her. "We can't help this kid if we don't know why the town wants to lynch him over calling in a probable robbery."

"It's not the first time Tommy's been accused of stealing something. When he was younger I told him he could pawn a ring of mine to help him pay tuition, his mama's a bit of a mess and I wanted help him out. I was gonna pick it up when I got home. He used to go to my daddy's for Sunday dinner and Daddy didn't know it was there. I forgot that Daddy and Leon at the pawn shop were buddies and that he still went into the store to check on it. The second he saw that ring he called my daddy and everyone thought Tommy stole it."

"Let me get this straight, people think he stole a ring from you, in the judge's house, and you batted your eyes at your daddy and made it all go away, and now they want to see him face consequences to his actions?"

"And Jason thinks he's the genius."

"If it was your ring what's the big deal that you let a friend hawk it?" asked Cable. "I mean, especially if you had the money to pick it up when you got home."

"It meant a lot to Daddy," Diana sighed.

"Oh, it was one of those purity rings," Chunk suggested.

Diana nodded. "That thing was like a beacon to frat boys when I was in college, and after that I certainly didn't need to wear it. I guess Daddy didn't want to know the truth back then. It broke his heart I wasn't wearing it. He was mad about what happened and he took it out on Tommy."

"Texas is complicated," grumbled Cable. "But you didn't explain why Judge Lindsay has a hate on for you Doctor Bull."

"Cable, I am dating the daughter he bought a purity ring for and I have not put a different ring on that daughter's finger there is no better reason for a southern man to hate another man."

"Complicated," Cable repeated, shaking her head.

"Jason forgot to mention he was lucky he wasn't starin' down the barrel of Daddy's shotgun, clad only in his unders, the first time he met my daddy," Diana laughed.

"I thought I would leave your modesty intact, Miss Lindsay," Bull told her with a sly smile.

"Now Jason, I think they are smart enough to know what's going on between us considering you're not stayin' at the hotel with them."

"And it's not like we've never seen Doctor Bull in his skivvies," added Chunk, shaking head.

"You really have no shame Jason," laughed Diana.

"You're the one who likes to steal my pants and wanted pancakes," Bull reminded her.

They all laughed, and Bull pulled Diana toward him. She smiled at him and curled up close to him; there was something nice about acting like that together since they didn't often spend time with their friends or co-workers when they were together.

"Come on ya'll let's get dinner, my treat, since I inadvertently doubled your work load."

"I'm not arguing with free food," Cable said.

"I'll call Danny see if he can join us," Marissa suggested.

"Great idea," Diana agreed.

They all left the office to go for dinner together. They knew they would probably talk about the case throughout most of the meal but at least they were out of the office for a little while. Danny was able to join them, and Diana hoped that she had found something that would help Tommy out since they all knew that it wasn't going to be easy to prove that Tommy really had gone in to help even though no one had found a trace of the stolen money or goods yet.

End Part 3

Notes: Okay so the part about meeting Judge Lindsay like that totally came to me last week when Bull was on the conference call with the team and no one batted an eye at him being in a pair of boxers and an undershirt. Hope you liked it!


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Everything in Texas  
Author: Trista Groulx aka dustytiger  
Rating: T same as the show to be safe  
Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own Bull it belongs to its network, creator, writers, actors, actresses and people who make it come to life and I am just a poor disabled person who likes to play with the characters.  
Summary: An old friend is accused of robbery and Diana asks for Bull's help in defending him, but Bull and team are in for a surprise.  
Notes: Okay… it will be five parts! Woot! I also made up middle names for Bull and Diana for this part, I hope they work. Thank you for the kind reviews on this one guys heart! I hope you like this part too!

* * *

After a lot of preparing, and quite a bit of arguing they were finally ready for voir dire. The team was explaining to Tommy the processes as they went and he seemed to understand what was going on and why they were doing what they were doing. He was overwhelmed by having the TAC team instead of Diana representing him but he trusted them because Diana did, and they didn't want to let him down.

Everyone had taken a liking to Tommy since they'd met him and they wanted to do their best for him. They wanted him to get his day in court, and it was going to be fair, despite the hurdles they were facing. They knew jury selection would be a bigger challenge than usual, the jury pool was smaller and they would be unlikely to find twelve people who hadn't heard about the now infamous ring.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" Benny asked the baffled juror, with a surprising amount of confidence.

Benny knew that the strategy was to find open minded jurors, but he was sure that this particular question was ridiculous. There were hundreds of other questions he could think of that would give them the same base line reaction, but Bull had been adamant, this was the best question for the case. Of course he was, thought Benny, he wasn't the one standing in front of a group of strangers, a judge and the prosecution having to ask people about ghosts.

"Bu- Your honour," the prosecutor objected.

"Bubba," sighed judge Lindsay. "Mister Colon is allowed to ask whatever he likes."

"Your honour, this is a courtroom, not the science fiction channel."

"It doesn't have to make sense to us, it's big city trial science. Jason what on earth is your strategy here?"

"Judge Lindsay, it's a voir dire question, one of my better ones," explained Bull, grinning, getting him sideways glares from not just the judge but Benny and Bubba as well.

"Don't make me remove you from this courtroom, Doctor Bull," he warned. "You start making this into a circus I'll remove the monkey."

"Understood, your honour. Even if it had to with our defense strategy we wouldn't be able to tell you. I assure you it's only a question."

Judge Lindsay nodded, and the prosecutor sat down, and began to scribble a few notes on a piece of paper. Bull grinned, the question had done what he had intended. The fact it had annoyed Benny and Cable now owed him dinner we a nice bonus. She should have known better than to bet against him, it had taken him nearly a month, but he had gotten Benny to mention ghosts in court.

"Sorry Ma'am go ahead," the judge told the potential juror. "Answer Mister Colon."

"Well no Sir, I do not believe in ghosts," the juror replied, shaking her head.

Benny continued to ask the perspective jurors about their belief in ghosts. Bull had to be more discreet than usual when trying to communicate with Benny as to who they wanted on the jury as Judge Lindsay was keeping a close eye on Bull and if he saw something he didn't like he knew he'd be out of the courtroom, which would make it a lot harder for him to help their client.

The day had gone better than he had expected, he had only had the one incident with the judge, and he had to wonder if he might be curious about his job, but he wasn't going to push it. There were a few people on the jury that they were going to have to win over, but overall he was happy with the selection. As he was leaving the courtroom he saw Diana, and grinned, but it soon faded, she looked very upset about something; and he realised it might be him she was mad at this time.

"Ghosts!?" Diana demanded as she approached him.

"How did you?" he asked, confused, voir dire wasn't open to the public.

She ignored his question. "Daddy already thinks that what you do is a joke and you ask potential jurors if they believe in ghosts!?"

"Do you know that your accent gets thicker when you get mad?" asked Bull, trying to ignore her question in turn. "It's sexy."

"Jason James Tiberius Bull!"

He just smiled at her mischievously. He knew he had gotten under her skin, which wasn't his goal, but was certainly fun. He knew that if he'd gotten under her skin he had most certainly gotten to the prosecutor which was the goal. They needed to keep him on his toes and this was the first step toward keeping him guessing about what their strategy might be; and maybe Bull's sanity.

"I needed to find open minded jurors. They're golf buddies," he explained, getting a surprised looking from her. "Your father called the prosecutor Bubba."

"Jason, everyone calls him Bubba," she told him. "We live in Texas and his name is Alejandro Porpoksonkov."

"Okay, fair enough, but - he almost called your father Bud in front of everyone. I need to throw him off his game. Which, I did. Now he's thinking about what else I'm going to throw at him throughout the trial. Trust me Diana I am very good at what I do. Which, is why you called me."

She smiled at him, and shook her head, knowing he was right, even if he infuriated her at times. Before she could respond he then pulled her toward him into a very public passionate embrace. She wrapped her arms around him, and for a moment relaxed into him enjoying the little bit of PDA, not caring who saw them.

"I shoulda known he was a friend of ya'lls," muttered Bubba, walking by.

Diana pulled away but he was already gone. She laid her head on Bull's chest letting out a tiny laugh. He grinned at her it wasn't often he heard that sound in public. He ran his finger along her cheek. She smiled him despite herself, glad that Bubba had walked away instead of making a big deal about their relationship.

"Was that to throw him off him game too, Doctor Bull?" she asked walking her fingers up his chest.

"That was entirely selfish, Miss Lindsay," he assured her. "He thought if he got in good with the judge he'd have a chance with you."

"Bubba always was a bit of an idiot," she told him kissing him again, this one was a little more tender than the one they had just shared.

"That's no way for a lady to act," Judge Lindsay admonished, but there was a sly smile peaking from the corner of his mouth.

"It's just an innocent little kiss, I'm a good Christian girl," Diana assured him with a shy smile.

"Diana Jane Lindsay don't you go 'round lyin' to your Daddy now."

Her cheeks flushed a little, but she laughed knowing her father knew better considering how they'd met each othe. Bull then wrapped his arm around her waist and they left the courthouse together. He could almost feel Bubba's eyes on them. They went back to Diana's office to see which tools they would be able to have for the trial, knowing the mock trials were they hoped they would be able keep their mirror juror in the courtroom, but wanting to discuss what they would do if Judge Lindsay kicked them all out of the courtroom.

End Part 4

Notes: Okay so that was that hehe I hope you enjoyed it, please let me know, reviews are good for the soul hehe :D


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Everything in Texas  
Author: Trista Groulx aka dustytiger  
Rating: T same as the show to be safe  
Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own Bull it belongs to its network, creator, writers, actors, actresses and people who make it come to life and I am just a poor disabled person who likes to play with the characters.  
Summary: An old friend is accused of robbery and Diana asks for Bull's help in defending him, but Bull and team are in for a surprise.  
Notes: All right so this is the end. I wanted the beginning and end of the trial to each be the own chapters but my brain quit. I'm glad that people seemed to have liked this. I am hoping to write in this fandom again. But for now this what I've got.

* * *

It had been a late night but they were ready for whatever came their way, thankfully Judge Lindsay did not seem to be bothered by the mirror jury being in the viewing gallery. Bull had to wonder if he was curious about what it was they did. Both he and Benny knew that everything was going to matter in this case and would need to hit the ground running from the opening statements, if they didn't get it right they might never get the jury back. Benny had been writing and re-writing it since jury selection had ended and still didn't think it was ready, but was out of time as he stood up and adjusted his tie.

"Ladies and gentleman," Benny began. "My job is to help you see that Mister McNamara didn't do this. I know you're wondering why Miss Lindsay and her company aren't the ones up here, and I'm going to tell you. She thought because her friendship with the defendant it would look bad for her to be the one to help him so she asked us to help her friend. If you're wondering why Judge Lindsay can sit up there on the bench knowing all that, it's simple, he's not here to decide if Tommy's guilty- you are.

"Don't scoff, your job in this courtroom is to listen to Mister Porpoksonkov- Bubba and me, you can think of me as Benny, if you want, and decide who is telling you the truth - who showing you the most evidence to help you see what the truth is about what happened that night. Judge Lindsay is here to make sure we don't lie to you, and to help you understand the courtroom process.

"I bet you're all thinking what on earth do a bunch of guys from New York know about helping a kid from Calisto? That's what we do, we help people, especially people who might have the odds stacked against them, and Mister McNamara, Tommy, sure does, I'm pretty sure you've all heard a few rumours about him, and his family.

"We're here to show you that despite what you've heard about Tommy before he's a good kid, he's not thief, and he certainly didn't rob that store. He was going home from work and he saw something was wrong. Instead of walking and doing nothing he did what everyone in a small town says they'd do, he helped out.

"He went inside to make sure no one was hurt, to make sure everything was all right, and when he saw it wasn't he called 911; like we're all taught to do. Because of rumours and whispers he was arrested that night instead of being believed, and the police going off find out what happened.

My job is to show you that all he did was try to help out that night. Your job is to listen to both sides of this story, put aside anything else you might have heard and decide what the truth is and tell Judge Lindsay what you decide. We all have our jobs to do, to help Tommy and to help those folks who were robbed that night too."

"Benny's good," Marissa said through the earpiece. "The mirror jury is eating this up."

"Let's hope he can keep it up," Bull replied.

"Doctor Bull," Judge Lindsay warned.

Bull nodded at the judge this was going to be a challenge for him, but he didn't want to get himself kicked out of the courtroom; mostly because he didn't want to have to explain that to Diana. The rest of the day had gone well and it was looking good for Tommy but he knew it would be better if Danny could find something solid to exonerate him.

By the end of the trial the team was glad it was winding down, it felt longer because they wanted so much to help their client. Although the mirror jury results were positive, they were still nervous about the verdict. Knowing that their defendant was like family to Diana made the case more personal to them and they wanted it to go well, but despite everything having Judge Lindsay presiding seemed to change the dynamic of what they did, which made the whole case feel like a bigger challenge.

It seemed as if they were all holding their breath as the jury forewoman stood up. Diana had taken the morning off and was sitting behind them in the gallery. As much as she rationalized her decision a part of her still wondered if the trial would have gone better if she had just represented her friend herself? Could the jury, most of whom knew her, understand why she had called in help from New York? Would they really listen to the big city lawyer who had been representing Tommy?

"Not guilty," the jury forewoman stated.

"It's over?" Tommy asked, shocked.

"It is," Benny assured him, going to shaking his hand, but surprised when he got a hug instead.

"Thank you, all of ya'll," he said, then hugging Bull.

He then saw Diana who hugged him, he hugged her back, and they were both smiling glad it was over. She knew he hadn't done anything wrong, and she knew that if she wasn't able to make jury see that Benny would, and he did, with help of course. It was over and they couldn't accuse him of doing that again, but she hoped that they would find who had really robbed the place so that he wouldn't have to listen to the town whispering the rest of his life.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"You are so welcome," she assured him.

"If Jason ever pisses you off enough and you wanna move to Texas you've got yourself a job Benny," Diana told him hugging him.

Benny smiled. "Thank you, but I don't do this on my own."

"I guess I have to thank you too, Jason," she joked, she then went over to Bull, and kissed him softly.

"It's what I do," he reminded her with a sly smile.

"I guess that's why I keep you around."

"I thought it was cause I'm smart and pretty."

She laughed patting his chest. "You may be onto something there Doctor Bull."

They didn't have too much time celebrate the win. After prosecution team had come over to cordially congratulate them on the win Judge Lindsay had come over to them. It was obvious he had something on his mind and Bull hoped he wanted to see his daughter rather than him. He also hoped he wasn't mad that they hadn't found who had really robbed the store. He got the distinct impression that the judge knew everyone in town, and wanted justice for the store owner.

"Jason," Judge Lindsay said.

"Sir?"

Without saying anything Bull knew to follow him. They went toward his chambers, while Diana went with Benny and Tommy to meet the rest of the team to help them pack up and likely have a few celebratory drinks before their fight home. Bull wasn't sure if he should sit down with the judge, he felt like he had been called into the principal's office as he adjusted his tie.

"Maybe what ya'll do it ain't all bad, Jason," judge Lindsay admitted handing him a glass filled with a brown liquid.

"Thank you," Bull nodded and took a sip of the drink, glad the judge liked good Scotch. "I had Danny, my investigator, look into the robbery. She's given some leads to locals, justice will be done, Sir."

"Good," he took a sip of his own drink.

"That isn't why you called me in here, is it?"

He shook his head. "Don't hurt my girl, Jason."

"I won't, Sir," he assured him, unsure if things between him and Diana were really that serious.

"I always knew I'd lose her to a big city, but I never thought it'd be New York."

"We haven't talked about that."

"I know Diana, it might not happen tomorrow, but it'll happen. I always hoped she'd be the next Judge Lindsay 'round these parts, but I knew she was bigger than Calisto."

Bull nodded taking another swig of the drink in his hand. "Okay."

"You don't need to be a phycologist to see the way ya'll look at each other. Maybe you're afraid but it's there."

"All right Judge Lindsay."

"You could call me Bud."

Bull let out a half laugh, nervously. "I'll try, Sir."

Bull began to adjust his tie again and put down his glass. He didn't want to tell her father that they were keeping things casual, especially since the first time they'd met he had been wearing a pair of boxers in her kitchen, but he certainly didn't think that he and Diana were that serious yet. It wasn't as if he hadn't thought about a future with her, but it was still all abstract, things were good the way they were and he didn't want to do anything to change that. He already had one divorce under his belt and he knew he didn't want another one, so for now he wanted to keep his life how it was. Things were good between them, why rock the boat when they were both happy with the arrangement? He wasn't planning on leaving but he wasn't planning on making any big life altering changes either. He was happy, and that felt pretty good and as long as she was too that was all that mattered to him.

The End

Notes: Well that was that! I hope you liked this little fic! It was nice to put out something a little longer than a stand alone. Let me know what you think hugs and hearts for all the support – Trista


End file.
